Crooked Clockwork
by Toni42
Summary: Echo-Zane couldn't tear his fogged yellow eyes away from them, black rags flapping as they twisted and turned around each other, the singing and the music pounding against the inside of his metallic skull. The magic was fading, a ticking drowning out the music, and he could feel hands, mangled, tearing at his chest, tearing him apart. He couldn't breathe. (Sequel to Empty Echoes).
1. Hailstones

_**Echo-Zane couldn't tear his eyes away from them, black rags flapping behind them as they twisted and turned around each other, the singing and the music pounding against the inside of his skull. The magic was beginning to fade, a ticking drowning out the music, hands tearing into his chest, tearing him apart. He couldn't breathe.**_

 **Here we have it! After four long months of planning with GirlOfHerOwnWorld and struggling to find time to finish this around exams, college interviews, studying and keeping the updates ready for _Movie Mode,_ it's finally finished. **

**I just wanna say now that the updates for this are more than likely to be random and far between. I'd love to work on this more, but I am honestly just so, _so_ tired right now. I'd love to just collapse into bed, but I've got a science exam in the morning so I'm a bit reluctant at the same time.**

 **Anyway, MASSIVE thanks to GirlOfHerOwnWorld (my dear friend Gommie) who has, just like in _Empty Echoes_ , assisted in the planning of this story. This story wouldn't be what it is without you, Gom Gom.**

 **So, even though I won't be able to update that often until around the summer holidays, I hope you guys enjoy the story just as much as you enjoyed _Empty Echoes._ Please be patient with updates, I am trying, but please, please, _please_ do not continuously ask me when the next update will be. I don't mind the occassional PM asking about how the new chapter's coming, but don't be surprised if I tell you I haven't even started it yet.**

 **That aside, I seriously hope you enjoy this and that it lives up to your expectations.**

* * *

 _Chapter One:_

Hailstones

* * *

Gears shifted, making quiet little whirring noises, smooth and otherwise silent. There was the gentle pitter patter of raindrops against the window, the soft breathing of his siblings as they slept, and the distant honks of cars from the never-resting streets of Ninjago City.

Fogged yellow eyes blinked open, taking only a second to properly adjust. A wooden ceiling greeted his sight, and for a moment fear stabbed at his chest, twisted and chilling, a frozen finger tracing down his spine. Then the nindroid next to him shifted in his sleep, turning so that their bodies were once more pressed together.

Echo-Zane took a deep, relieved breath, hand coming over his clockwork heart to muffle the ticking that had started to become audible. From where he was huddled between the brothers among the blankets, Gizmo bleeped, eyes lighting as he was pulled from slumber. He tilted his head questionably at the nindroid, who raised a finger to his lips to tell him to be quiet. The Ninja slept on.

The rain fell heavily, thick drops that raced each other down the windowpane, watering the greenery and soaking anyone who was unlucky enough to get caught outside without an umbrella. Echo watched the drops batter the glass, wondering if he was the one unconsciously doing it, or if it was simply natural.

Silence reigned the Destiny's Bounty. The bedroom was cast in shadows, the only light coming from Jay's Fritz Donnegan alarm clock, the digital numbers glowing 4:21 am in a navy blue. A recovery present, if Echo remembered correctly, from his parents.

A chill gripped his chest, a sudden, loud tick cracking the quiet. Echo's hand flew over his heart, holding his breath. A moment passed. Cole mumbled something about cake, turned over and didn't move again. Besides the clock, the faint glimmer of his ghostly form was the only other light source.

Swallowing, Echo forced himself to relax, taking deep breaths, just like Wu had taught him. From what he understood, Ed and Edna had been dragged out of the rubble of their home by the man in the mech (Roy or something) and taken to the hospital not long after he'd been… Echo shook his head, pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind. He didn't want to end up freaking out and waking the Ninja. Again. Last time that had happened, Lloyd had ended up falling out of bed, which left him wearing his sling for longer than he'd wanted.

Of course, none of them were angry with him. At least, Echo _hoped_ they weren't angry with him- they'd honestly seemed more worried than anything else. But they had their own problems to worry about. Like healing from their injuries.

Echo wasn't the best medical expert out there. He knew more about machinery than biology, and even then he tended to screw things up. There was one time he'd tried to make another droid, based off the blueprints his father had used to build him, but it hadn't exactly ended well.

Not that it mattered now. He hadn't had the Ninja back then, after all. He hadn't had a big brother back then.

He sighed, wondering where his thoughts had run off to. There was a slight chill to the room, signifying the slow approach of winter as summer began to fade into the background, where it would eventually vanish from sight entirely until it was called upon again the following year. The blanket shared between Echo and Zane, with Gizmo huddled between them in the middle, kept the chill at bay, but even with it, Echo still found himself feeling it, on the edges of the shadows, struggling to wiggle through the thick cloth to freeze his metallic skin.

It wasn't the first time Echo had found himself lying awake in the middle of the night; he'd been doing it often enough since his rescue. A part of him wanted to shake his older brother awake so he could help him, because Zane always knew exactly what to do, but a larger part snapped at him not to selfishly disturb the nindroids' sleep. Echo had noticed he wasn't the only one that often lay awake throughout the night.

His left hand, newly crafted, attached to his wrist for the first time not that long ago. He curled his fingers into a fist, listening to the near silent whir of its gears. Echo had been repaired over the course of two weeks by Zane and Nya- Jay had been a bit too busy fighting off an infected eye socket to help- and was back to his usual self, more or less. No scars, no marks, you wouldn't even be able to tell he'd gone through something terrible. It was as though he were practically brand new.

Echo wasn't sure how to feel about that.

Because he wasn't brand new. He was far, _far_ from brand new. Things that were brand new didn't wake up screaming in the middle of the night. Things that were brand new didn't see a mask of green and silver and mangled hands and blood bubbling out of throats and pus leaking from wounds and dark, rocky corridors with water dripping from an out of sight ceiling everytime they closed their eyes.

He looked brand new. But he didn't feel it.

Echo dropped his hand back down to the blankets, closing his eyes, breathing deeply. It was okay. It was all okay now. He wasn't in the labyrinth, he wasn't strapped down to a table, wasn't trapped in the boot of a car, wasn't trapped in an arena with noise, noise, noise _everywhere_ , and blood, blood on his hands, the bleeding body of the mutilated Serpentine in the sand.

Zane shifted beside him, and Echo grit his teeth, clenching his watery eyes shut as he slapped his hand over his ticking heart again. He breathed deeply, felt Gizmo's clawed hand brushing against his own, a long, concerned bleep, asking him if he were alright.

The nindroid shook his head, swallowing around the tightness in his throat. Zane shifted beside him again, then almost seemed to pause, before he abruptly sat up, startling the other droid, electric blue eyes glowing in the darkness of the room. Gizmo beeped.

"Echo?" a titanium hand gripped his elbow, strong and assuring, "Are you alright?"

The shorter bot nodded, gritting his teeth. Zane's brow furrowed, and he reached forward with his free hand, running fingers through his little brother's hair. "Hey, hey, you're alright. Shh, you're alright."

Echo gasped in a deep breath, internally wincing at how loud it was. His chest was painfully restricted, as though someone had wrapped a wire cord around his lungs and _squeezed_. Zane murmured something that might have been a swear word, a short little beeping noise that he'd rarely ever heard from him, before he let go, holding his hands up as though approaching a frightened animal.

"Okay, buddy, okay," he whispered, "Easy, just breathe."

The rain was pounding against the window now, a storm of drops coming down so strong you'd think they'd be trying to break the glass. A whimper forced its way passed Echo's lips as he curled into a tight ball, covering his stomach and chest protectively, heart ticking away in his ears. There was a groan somewhere above them, so loud that it sent Echo's ears into a painful ring.

"Wha's going on?"

"Go back to sleep, Jay," Zane said. There was a shift from above them, the bunk beds shaking a little.

"Crap, is he okay? Should I get Sensei Wu?"

Echo shook his head, tears beading at the corners of his eyes, "I- I can- can't _breathe._ "

"Shhh, it's okay, you're okay. Deep breaths, Echo, deep breaths."

He did as he was told, gasping in a deep, trembling breath, but it didn't seem to be working as well as it should have been. He clenched his eyes shut, whimpering, tears slipping from his eyes and down his cheeks. Gizmo gave a loud, alarmed bleep directly into his ear. _Too loud._

Everything was too loud. The raindrops against the window, battering against the glass like mangled fists trying to break in. The wind, howling, the dying screech of insanity. Something must have been broken, a pipe or the kitchen tap, because Echo could swear he could hear dripping in the distance, threatening to spill and flood and drown him at the bottom of a frigid lake, trapped beneath ice, unable to get out, unable to escape, unable to swim in the first place. Why did he never learn to swim?

"You're safe, Echo, I promise. We found you. We found you, you're not there anymore. Just breathe, okay? Please, buddy, just breathe."

Hands, mangled and scared and mutilated, tearing at his chest, tearing him apart, ripping out his lungs and gears and cogs and ticking heart. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't breathe, how was he supposed to breathe when he _had no lungs_ -

"I'm getting Sensei!"

A ghostly figure rushed passed him, and Echo flinched, clenching shut watery eyes- he couldn't take him away, he couldn't take him back to the man with the mangled hands, he wouldn't let him, he couldn't let him, no, no, no _, no, no, no, no, no-_

He was surrounded by water, in his mouth, in his lungs, his eyes, his nose, limbs thrashing wildly, trying to breathe but only breathing in liquid, _he didn't know how to swim, he'd never learnt how to swim, why wasn't Kaze helping him-_

He couldn't breathe.

 _He couldn't breathe._

There was shouting, everywhere, desperate words that he couldn't hear. The rain had turned to slushy, splattering against the window in a raging storm, the wind howling and battering against the closed sails of the Destiny's Bounty. Everything was so _loud_ and he couldn't _breathe_ and it was too much, too much, _too much-_

"Echo, shh, just calm down. You're not choking, you're just breathing too fast. Take deep breaths and it'll go away, alright? Deep breaths, buddy, deep breaths."

Echo gasped in a deep, trembling breath, forcing himself to listen, forcing himself to do as he was told. He could feel his heart vibrating in his chest, could hear it ticking in his ears. He curled into a tight ball, forcing himself to slow his breaths, gasping, gasping. It faded slowly, to the point that he wasn't sure it was fading at all, but then he simply laid there, curled among the blankets, exhausted. Gizmo gave a soft, questioning beep, hesitantly brushing a clawed hand across Echo's forehead.

"M'fine," the droid murmured, although he didn't come out of his ball, nor did the tremors stop wracking his spine, and his voice in itself was unconvincing to his own ears. His heart was still ticking loudly, his hand doing little to nothing in muffling it, and a brownish-red flush rose up his cheeks. So much for not waking anyone.

His eyes flickered up to Zane, and relief shot across his brothers face. Titanium arms wrapped around him, pulling him into his lap and holding him close. Echo, still forcing himself to take deep, calming breaths to keep the panic from coming back, to keep it at bay, shimmering in the shadows, unseen but always there. He buried his face into Zane's chest. Breathe. Breathe. _Breathe._

"Guys? It's hailing."

Swallowing, Echo peaked one eye out from where his face was buried in his brother's shirt. The rain had, indeed, gone from liquid to solid; what he had at first considered to be battering against the window pane had turned into an outright thrashing, as though someone were throwing a thousand little pebbles at it, trying to break the glass and get inside. A shudder wracked Echo's spine, and titanium arms squished him closer.

The door opened then, Cole rushing in with Sensei Wu and Misako right behind him. Their white bearded teacher only took a glance around at his students, all wide awake and worried, before stalking over to where Zane and Echo were huddled together on the bed. Off to the side, Echo saw Misako turn to Kai, Jay and Lloyd, already reaching out to brush the tips of her fingers against the bandage around the lightning ninja's eye.

"Zane," Wu said, a disapproving note to his tone. The titanium nindroid shook his head, holding Echo impossibly closer.

"He's not- He's fine now," Zane explained, although there was a layer of guilt in his hunched shoulders, "I just-"

Wu held up a hand, and Zane cut off, mouth snapping shut. He turned his attention down to Echo, huddled in his brother's lap and unwilling to move anytime soon. For a moment, the little nindroid thought he was going to try and pry him away, and he flinched away when Wu reached out with a wrinkled hand. That hand faltered, pausing mid-air, but then continued its journey and brushed against Echo's forehead, as though feeling for a fever.

"It has passed," Wu confirmed, running his thumb across the ridge above Echo's eyebrow, almost massaging his temple, "As it always does, and always will."

"It doesn't feel like it," Echo whispered, voice weak to even his own ears, "It- It feels like it's gonna last forever, when it's happening."

Wu cocked his head to the side a little, humming thoughtfully, "But doesn't everything feel like it's going to last forever?"

"Uh…" Echo glanced up at Zane, unsure, "I- I suppose."

"Hm, how strange, isn't it?" Wu said, pulling his hand away from the little nindroid's forehead to clasp them behind his back, "How everything feels as though it'll last forever, is never ending, and yet nothing can truly claim to fall into this category."

Wu had a point, although this wasn't all that surprising. Echo had thought that he and his father would be at the lighthouse forever, together; then he'd thought he and Gizmo would be at the lighthouse forever, all alone, before Jay and Nya stumbled upon him in search of a place to hide; he'd thought he'd be lost in that blasted labyrinth forever, strapped to that table forever, struggling to fend off the insane monsters trying to tear him apart forever, and then wandering, stumbling over sandy dunes, wondering when he was going to collapse, forever, forever, forever. But he'd made it through. He'd made it home.

It hadn't lasted forever.

Seeming to have recognised his realisation, Wu smiled, squeezed the little droids shoulder, before turning around and starting to make his way out the room. Misako was in the middle of scolding Kai, who had shot out of bed when he'd realised something was wrong and now sat with a face that couldn't hide his pained grimaces no matter how hard he tried.

Instead of leaving immediately, however, both Wu and Misako helped the injured Ninja back into bed after a moment of thought. Jay, being on the top bunk and not having quite got his sense of direction back yet, fell off the ladder twice before reluctantly accepting Misako's help. Kai had been begrudgingly silent about being 'coddled,' as he deemed it, since Wu had spoken to him, but no one was certain what exactly he'd said.

Lloyd was the least injured, and was still able to get into bed with relative ease even with his arm in a sling, unlike a certain lightning ninja. Despite this, Misako checked up on him, adjusting his arm into a more comfortable position. The Green Ninja's cheeks dusted a light pink, but he smiled up at her anyway.

Zane shifted, sliding Echo off his lap but not letting go of him as they laid back down. Echo clung to him, burying his face into his brother's chest. He jumped when something clambered on top of them, huddling between their stomachs. Gizmo bleeped, before his eyes dulled as he returned to rest.

"Better?" Wu asked, appearing at the side of their bed again. Echo hummed and nodded, tired in a way that didn't involve sleep. The sensei nodded back, tugging the blanket over the three droids and burying Gizmo in the process, although the little bot was too deep in his sleep to realise. Wu placed a hand on Echo's head, then Zane's, before pulling away and vanishing with Misako out into the hall. The door closed quietly behind them.

The room was dark again, although Echo didn't remember anyone turning the lights on to brighten it in the first place. Someone had closed the curtain over the window, hiding the droplets racing down its pane from sight; the hail had melted, probably sometime shortly after Echo was able to calm his frantically ticking heart.

After a moment of nothing but stillness and quiet, Zane shifted again, and titanium lips pressed against the side of his head. Echo buried his face into the older droids chest, sighing. He knew that, despite his exhaustion, despite being nestled in the safety of his brother's arm, he was unlikely to be getting much sleep anytime soon. Just like every other night.

Zane held him closer, almost as though he were afraid that, if he let go, he'd disappear all over again. That if he let go, he'd never get him back. "I love you, baby brother."

Echo took a deep breath, fighting back the tears that pricked at the back of his eyes- the strange, strange tears that he'd never known he could cry. But he supposed he'd always been able to cry, in a way, before his head had been knocked back into place in a blow that, according to Nya, should have killed him. He couldn't remember what blow it had been; there were too many, muddled together, bashed and blurred, and to be honest he'd rather not think of it. The way Zane had refused to let go him after this discovery indicated that he held similar feelings. Then again, he'd hardly left his side since they'd found him in the desert.

Not that Echo minded. But even before he'd discovered his ability to tear up, he'd always been able to cry with the rain, despite having never realised it. And he once again found himself wondering if the gentle pitter patter against the window was him, was his own doing, an action he'd never recognised as his own. If the harsh hail had been a product of his terror.

Echo closed his eyes, even though he knew there would be no sleep there to greet him. He pushed away the hailstones.

"I love you too."

* * *

 **Poor, poor Echo. The events of _Empty Echoes_ sure have left its mark.**

 **Before you go, quick question: did you guys like the flashbacks in the prequel? Because I often find flashbacks to be a bit irritating to read at times, so I wasn't sure if it was taking a toll on the story, despite all the revelations and stuff. Do you guys think I should scrap any thought of having anymore flashbacks altogether, or do you think I should throw in more? Let me know, it's highly appreciated!**

 **Hope you enjoyed the long awaited first chapter. I'll do my best to get the next one written soon, but, again, I've got a _lot_ of things on my shoulders right now. Thankfully, I've got most of my college interviews out of the way and my last mock exam is on Monday (which I don't really have to study for 'cause it's for Art; we're just gonna be in the Art class all day working on a project (I'm thinking of doing an Observational Drawing of my girlfriend for it), so in all honesty it's more of a break from my other classes than an exam XXD).**

 **So please be patient with updates, I swear that, no matter how long it takes for me to get the chapter done, I'm not planning on abandoning this story anytime soon.**


	2. Exposure

**_Review Replies:_**

 ** _razena:_ Good to know you liked the flashbacks! Wu was giving Zane into trouble for hugging Echo because when someone's having a panic attack, you don't touch them because that will only make it worse. It's been a good couple months since the last chapter of _Empty Echoes_ , so Zane knows that he's not allowed to hug his brother when he's having a panic attack. When Wu arrived, he didn't know if he was still having it or not, and even then Zane should have waited until he was sure it was over.**

 _ **ABCSKW123-IX:**_ **Thanks! I appreciate it. Yeah, Echo's not very good with names XXD It's definitely still haunting him. I mean, Echo's only a few years old, and something like that would traumatize an adult. Yeah, hail would be a mix of terror and sadness, I suppose, and also a sort of defence thing, like lashing out but not as violent. Thanks for telling me what you thought about the flashbacks! I totally agree on them being a bit of a drag if they're every chapter. There _was_ a lot of important stuff in most of the flashbacks, even the one that focused more on the tickle scene in the hotel, 'cause it showed the Ninja's relationship with the government (which _should_ come into play at some point, although possibly not in this one). Glad you're excited for the sequel, it makes me excited too!**

 _ **EchoZane:**_ **Aw, thanks! It's so great to hear that you're excited for this story. I hope I don't disappoint ::D**

 _ **Nora Mutao Frost:**_ **Thank you, that's great to hear! I'm a little surprised that everyone seems to have enjoyed the flashbacks. I'll definitely be adding some more into this one!**

 _ **TheAmberShadow:**_ **Heh, no problem! Yeah, we should be going into Jay's thoughts on losing his eye at some point. The next chapter has a bit more insight on their injuries. Heh, it's fine, I got out of touch with Ninjago for a good bit after season five, but got back into it after I met my online friends through _Movie Mode_ and found out they were into Ninjago too and that there was a new season. I have yet to leave again XXD Cole's still a ghost at the start of this, but we're going into Day of the Departed, so he'll be turned back into a human. Oh, yeah, I seem to have a thing for torturing my favourite characters XXD Poor, poor favourite characters. Good to know you liked the flashbacks, thank you for the feedback! I've finished by mock exams (thankfully), but I'll be having my real GCSEs in May, so blah. Thanks!**

 _ **Isabella camovic:**_ **No, I haven't seen Edward Scissorhands. That's an... interesting surname XXD I'll consider another tickle scene, but the navel suggestion makes me feel really weird because I for some reason don't like belly buttons XXD And I don't think Zane would actually be _able_ to give Echo a belly raspberry 'cause it's all open gears and stuff, but I see no reason why he wouldn't be able to do it on his cheek and neck. I think I like that one the best. Thanks for saying you won't be pushy anymore, I seriously appreciate it. I'm glad that you're so enthusiastic about my story but constantly asking for updates would just stress me out more than I already am. Don't worry, I've still got your requests! Some _might_ need to be cut, but I believe I've kept most of them. **

_**StoriesAreMagic:**_ **Hehe, glad you're so excited to see it! Yeah, I love writing in parental figures. And Echo getting a family ::D Thank you, I'm so happy you're looking forward to this!**

 _ **ASeriousNerd:**_ **Thank you! I'm so happy you're enjoying my story, and I seriously hope you continue to do so! Gommie and I have put a lot of work into it ::D**

 _ **Ebony umbreon:**_ **I'm happy to hear that ::D Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 _Chapter Two:_

Exposure

* * *

The lighthouse's walls were tall and strong. They were made of a cold, white-grey stone, some parts stained with black streaks from accidental explosions they'd never been able to clean up properly. Even before the skeletons tore apart the lighthouse, even before the bullet had pierced the cords and wires that made up his technological brain, even before his father vanished, the place had been quiet.

There had been a sadness to his father, one Echo had desperately, but hopelessly, tried to figure out. For a long time, he'd come to the conclusion that he'd done something wrong. He must have done something wrong. Why else would his father look at him with such disgust, as though he were a pile of sick splattered across the floor? Why else would he always seem so torn between loving him and hating him, between hugging him and hitting him?

But even though his father left, content, perhaps, to forget about his second son as though he had never been now that he had his first, his original, back in his arms, the tall, strong walls of the lighthouse has been Echo's constant. They'd been his whole world, his entire universe, and how could you miss something you've never known?

Echo had very few possessions, both in the lighthouse and in the Destiny's Bounty. He supposed the bed they'd gotten him, the one they'd squeezed into the Ninja's room, counted as a possession, even though he had yet to use it for a full night. Gizmo definitely did not count; he was his friend, not his object. There was his father's journal, the only thing he'd taken with him, the one scribbled with notes and diagrams and numbers and graphs, tucked beneath the bed, but that wasn't his either. His father's name, scribbled on the inside of the front cover in his narrow, messy handwriting, confirmed that.

Not even the white blanket wrapped around Echo's shoulders was his. It was Zane's, the blanket that was often strewn across his bed, and the only reason Echo was even touching it was because Zane always wrapped it around him whenever he clambered into bed with him. Which was every night.

But that didn't make the blanket Echo's. Zane's just nice enough to share it with him at night. So that, Echo supposed, was his current problem: Zane shared the blanket at night, but he wasn't sure if he'd be all that happy to share it with him during the day. And Echo liked the blanket.

No one could touch him when he had the blanket.

So when the Ninja began to wake up and stumble out of the bedroom to get ready and swallow some painkillers, Echo found himself reluctant to leave the safety of the blanket. He kept his eyes closed as Zane sat up beside him, stretching. Maybe if he thought he was still asleep, he'd let him stay in bed.

"How's the little guy?" Cole asked. Zane was silent for a moment.

"I believe he's still sleeping," he said, keeping his voice low, "We should let him rest. He must be exhausted after last night."

"Yeah," Cole muttered. The floorboards creaked, the warmth of Zane's titanium body slipping away; Echo bit back a whine. "Panic attacks are brutal."

Zane didn't give him an answer. His hand brushed against Echo's forehead, and he pressed a kiss just below his hairline. His brother pulled away. And after a few moments, Echo opened his eyes and twisted to look over his shoulder, confirming that he was alone. Apart from Gizmo, who bleeped from where he was seated at the end of the bed and tumbled over the blankets to press himself against the droids chest.

Comforted by his presence, Echo draped his arm around Gizmo, tugging the blanket higher up his shoulders. But he didn't wrap Gizmo in the blanket, although the little bot seemed content to lie without it. Maybe he was being a little selfish, but a terror struck his chest and caused his clockwork heart to quicken at the thought of even opening the blanket to let him in, and Echo couldn't bring himself to overcome it no matter how much he metaphorically beat himself up over it. The blanket almost acted as his shield, and if he shed his shield, what was there to protect him from the mangled hands that wanted to claw apart his insides?

Eventually, Echo began to dose. With his reluctance to leave the bed, there wasn't much else he could do, and staring mindlessly at the walls reminded him too much of his time in that rocky, uneven cell whenever Kaze decided to go quiet and ignore him. Of course, the wooden walls of the Destiny's Bounty held very, _very_ few similarities with the cave that had been his cell. And yet, Echo's mind always seemed to somehow shift back to it.

He buried his face into the blanket, breathing deeply. Despite how Zane, Jay and Nya had cleaned him up during his repairs, and despite the almost vicious scrubbing he put upon himself every night when he had a bath, there was a grime to Echo's metallic skin that wouldn't go away. It seemed to be the only permanent thing about him, the only thing that couldn't be repaired with a few knots and bolts. Echo hadn't exactly been the cleanest droid when the Ninja found him, covered in rust and dirt and broken parts. But that had been fixed, had been dealt with, and yet this sort of rust, this sort of filth, wouldn't leave.

Echo had dealt with being rusted, had become used to it, and had felt fantastic when Zane chipped it away. But this grime, somehow, wasn't actually there; it was imaginary, made up, all in his head, just like the feeling of mangled hands tearing him apart, just like the blood coating his fingers, just like the water dripping from the walls.

It must have been half an hour or so later before Zane came back, and Echo kept his eyes closed when he did. His brother didn't stay long, but he sat something delicate on the floor beside the bedpost before he left to undoubtedly train with his other siblings. When Echo opened his eyes to see what it was, he discovered a glass filled with inky black oil.

With a tentative hand, he pulled from the safety of the blanket and picked up the glass as though it were a prize in a crane machine. He gulped half it down greedily, before wiping his mouth and setting it back on the floor. Gizmo beeped beside him.

"You can go eat, if you want," Echo told him, "I- I'm not all that hungry."

Gizmo gave a long, down-toned beep, as though telling him he didn't agree with the idea of him not getting anything to eat. Echo only gave him a small half-smile that didn't really reach his eyes, before curling back into the blanket and closing his eyes again. Breathing.

It was the pressure against his navel that brought Echo reluctantly back into the waking world. He pulled a face and glanced over at Jay's Fritz Donnegan clock, the blue digits informing him that it was almost one in the afternoon. He was surprised that Zane or Wu hadn't come to wake him; sleeping until noon wasn't something that happened regularly on the Bounty.

Then again, the rule had been rather lax lately. More than likely something that had to do with the others still healing from their injuries.

Pulling another face, Echo squirmed from the pressure against his navel, his reluctance to leave behind the blanket only increasing. He glanced at the clock again, then down at Gizmo, who had turned to look at him questionably. Surely, _surely,_ Zane wouldn't mind if he took the blanket with him? Just to go to the bathroom?

Right?

Echo battled with the idea for a good ten minutes, before eventually the pressure won out and he pulled himself from the bed, inching around Gizmo, the blanket wrapped securely around his shoulders. The little bot blinked up at him, bleeping in what he was pretty sure was pleasant surprise.

"I- I'm just gonna go to the toilet," Echo informed him, wrapping the blanket tighter around his body, covering as much as possible. He glanced over his shoulder, shuffling his feet in his unease, feeling as though he were about to do something wrong, although he wasn't sure why. Gizmo gave a little beep, settling back down on the bed, watching him. A little pang of disappointment hit Echo's chest; he'd been secretly hoping the smaller bot would come with him, just to keep him company.

Forcing himself to steel his restless nerves, Echo turned and made his way out into the hall, the bottom of the blanket dragging behind him like some sort of overgrown royal cape, similar to the big red one the king wore in the cartoon Misako showed him on the TV.

The hallway was practically abandoned, and he could hear the gentle gusts of wind against its sides; somewhere above him, on the deck, he imagined his brother and the other Ninja training, flipping over each other, dodging attacks, fighting in a way that somehow lacked any true violence. There had been some rules put in place after Kai collapsed due to exertion after only three hours of considerably lax training compared to what he usually does, something all three of the healing Ninja had been unhappy about, although Jay less so than Kai and Lloyd.

Echo slipped into the bathroom, gently pressing his back against the door to close it. He made to stand in front of the toilet, but faltered when he realised he needed to open the blanket to actually _reach_ said toilet, unless he wanted said blanket to be said toilet's replacement. Something told him Zane wouldn't appreciate him urinating all over his blanket.

It was with a great reluctance that Echo shifted over to the toilet. It took him almost twenty minutes, but eventually, he was able to relieve himself. After flushing away the black-grey liquid, Echo held the blanket tighter around him, and caught sight of his reflection in the bathroom mirror.

He looked… normal. Absolutely normal. At least, the normal that he'd been used to seeing for the past four months. He was a shiny copper colour, although not as shiny as Zane, and there was a definite lack of rust to his body. Not a single gear had shifted, not a single bolt had fallen out, not since his brother had rearranged his wires and replaced his screws. The thought surprised him for some reason.

It was like he was brand new.

That bitter taste was in his mouth again. For a moment, Echo thought he was going to be sick. Could nindroids even _get_ sick? Had Zane ever been sick? If Echo's knowledge on the biological immune system was correct (which was up for debate), being closed off from diseases and other people tended to leave it weaker than it was supposed to be.

Echo wondered if that applied to droids too.

A knock on the bathroom door abruptly pulled him from his thoughts.

"Echo? You in there?"

Zane. He must have went to check up on him again. He seemed to do that a lot now; always by his side, always poking his head in every few minutes as though to make sure that he was still there, always smiling in a way that seemed wrong. In a way that seemed fake.

It reminded Echo of the smile his father used to wear.

There was another knock, this one louder, more persistent, almost a little panicked. There was a stiffness in Zane's voice when he spoke, a strangled choke, as though he were trying to force something out of his throat.

"Echo? You there, buddy?"

Pulling the blanket tighter around him, Echo made his way over to the door and slid the lock out of place, tugging it open just in time for Zane's fist to make to knock again.

Surprise crossed his big brothers face, and his fist froze inches from Echo's forehead. The smaller bot jumped backwards an inch or two, startled. Then Zane's hand dropped and he took a step closer, raising his arms again to place his hands on Echo's elbows, pushing the door open the rest of the way in the process.

"Hey," Zane muttered, voice strangely frail; his electric blue eyes seemed shinier than usual, "Are you okay?"

Echo blinked up at him, before nodding, his mouth acting as though it had decided to glue itself shut. Relief crossed Zane's face, and he pulled him into a tight hug. The shorter bot stiffened, but he was quick to relax against his brother's chest. Zane held him for a good few minutes, before giving him one final squeeze and pulling away, although his hands trailed back down to his elbows, as though he didn't want to let him go.

"I'd just come to check on you," he explained, confirming Echo's suspicions, "Are you hungry? It's almost lunchtime."

The shorter bot paused, considering the question, before shrugging. Zane's brow furrowed, his mouth pressing into a thin line. There was a low mumble, something Echo has learnt to recognise as PIXAL talking. Then his brother made a noise in the back of his throat, a grunt or a groan perhaps, before gesturing with his head out into the hall.

"Come on," he said, wrapping his arm around Echo's shoulders and guiding him out of the bathroom, "Let's get you something to eat, huh?"

But, as it turned out, Echo wasn't all that up to eating. They sat down at the table with the others, and a grilled cheese with a side of mac and cheese was placed in front of him. But Echo didn't even pull his arms out from beneath the blanket. He just sat there, partly listening to the conversations going on around him, before toning out entirely as Misako began to lecture a disgruntled Kai about going easy on his healing body.

The table was wooden. Dark, maybe mahogany. It was covered in little scratches, and someone had carved _Jay stinks_ into the wood, which had thus been crossed out, although the words were still distinguishable. It was rather different from the grey, oil stained table that had been stationed in the middle of the lighthouse's little kitchen.

"Echo-Zane."

The droid looked up, surprised to find that everyone was staring at him. Wu had been the one to speak. His brow was furrowed, but only slightly, and he looked more questioning than concerned. He gestured to his untouched- and undoubtedly cold- food.

"Would you not like to eat?"

Echo looked down at his plate, blinking dumbly at it. His eyes trailed back up to meet Wu's, who was waiting patiently for an answer. He almost shrugged, but then decided that would be a bit too rude for the sensei, and settled on shaking his head. Beside him, Zane made as though to protest, but Misako sent him a quick look that was fast to silence him. Wu, however, simply arched his eyebrows at the younger droid.

"If you're certain. But I would recommend you eat something soon."

"Why don't you just take a bite?" suggested Cole, fiddling with his fork, "We can save the rest for later, if you like."

Echo considered it for a moment, looking down at the untouched plate in front of him. The thought of eating didn't make him feel queasy or anything. He just wasn't all that up to it. Wasn't hungry. He wasn't sure why.

He seemed to be thinking that a lot lately. Not being sure. Not having an answer. And he couldn't think of how to word his confusion to ask and see if anyone had the answer for him.

Abruptly, he realised everyone was still looking at him, waiting for a response. Echo shifted in his seat, uncomfortable under their gaze, and reluctantly slid his arm out from beneath the safety of the blanket and picked up his fork. He scooped up a bit of mac and cheese and shovelled it into his mouth. Out the corner of his eye, he spotted Zane smiling; he took another bite.

It was cold. Strangely bland. Not bad, exactly, but almost tasteless. It was like his tongue had forgotten to put on its taste buds that morning. Echo said nothing.

A chill tingled up his exposed arm.

* * *

"You seem to have become quite attached to that blanket," Wu observed, taking another sip of his steaming cup of tea, "Do you like it?"

Echo sat across from him, cradling his own cup of tea, which had black streaks from the oil Wu put in it for him. The blanket tucked around his shoulders wasn't all that white anymore; it had taken on more of a grey tone after a week of dragging it about with him none stop. Zane hadn't told him that he couldn't, had seemed completely fine with it aside from the occasional questioning frown, as long as he shared it with him when they went to bed.

"Yeah," Echo muttered, uncomfortably picking at the little chip on his cups' handle. Wu hummed, drinking the last of his tea, before pouring himself another. It was a nice day outside, evident from the sunlight streaming through the windows. They'd decided to rest the Bounty in the waters of Ninjago Bay, and the vessel rocked ever so gently from side to side, hardly noticeable unless you focused directly on it. The Ninja never stayed in one place for very long. One week they'd be in the sky, hovering over jagged mountains, and the next they were sailing down a river and making a pit stop for groceries in a fishing village.

"Jay should be doing the laundry soon," Wu said, breaking the silence Echo hadn't realised had descended upon them, "Perhaps the blanket could do with a wash?"

It _did_ need a wash. It was Zane's, after all, not his, and that means he needs to take proper care of it, which means he needs to let it be washed so it doesn't go from white to black. But if he'd let them take it to get it washed, he'd be exposed for who knows how long. He'd be without it. Cold. Vulnerable to mangled hands.

Echo didn't hear the frantic ticking until Wu appeared in front of him, not touching, ducking his head slightly to make eye contact. He appeared unsurprised. "In through the nose, Echo-Zane," he instructed, "And out through the mouth."

Gripping his cup so tight he was almost sure it was going to break, Echo did as he was told, gasping for breath. After a few minutes of Wu reminding him how to breathe, the frantic ticking died down, and the cord squeezing his lungs disappeared.

The cup was tugged from his hands and placed aside. A shudder wracked Echo's spine, and he tugged the blanket closed around him, still breathing through the nose and out through the month, forcing himself to calm down. He blew out a breath and shot the sensei an apologetic look. Wu held up his hand before he could say sorry.

"The only ones who should ever consider giving an apology are those who do harm," he declared. He got to his feet, stepping over Echo's cup of tea as he made his way over to the door. Pausing in front of it, he turned to look over at Echo.

"Stay here, please," without waiting for an answer, he turned back around and vanished through the door. Echo blinked after him.

It must have been around ten minutes later that Wu was walking back in, a rather confused looking Zane following him with a bundle of fabric in his arms. He smiled at Echo when their eyes met, before turning his attention to Wu as he made his way over to the droid on the floor.

"Sensei?" Zane said, "Why- ?"

"I believe," Wu cut him off, tucking his arms behind his back as he halted next to Echo, "I have come up with a more permanent solution for Echo-Zane."

The mentioned droid blinked up at him, "Huh?"

Wu simply smiled down at him, before mentioning Zane to come closer. Still confused, his brother did so. When he was close enough, Wu took some of the fabric from his arms- it was white, and it took Echo a moment to realise it was one of Zane's civilian shirts.

The ageing sensei knelt down and tapped Echo's shoulder. The droid knew what he wanted almost immediately; he swallowed, a cold feeling pressing against his chest as he carefully slid the blanket off his shoulders, so that it pooled in his lap. Above him, Zane's face lit up in realisation.

Wu slid the shirt- which must have been about two sizes too big for him- over Echo's head, helping the bot find the armholes so he didn't end up getting stuck. The sleeves had to be rolled up so he could actually use his hands.

The blanket was abandoned on the floor as both Wu and Zane helped him into a pair of faded blue jeans. The sensei stepped back to regard him for a moment, then gave a single nod and smiled.

"Does this work for you, Echo?"

The droid tugged at the long sleeves, pulling them over his hands. Nothing was exposed. It wasn't as thick as the blanket, but the cold feeling had left his chest. The fabric smelled metallic, with a frosty tinge Echo couldn't really explain. It smelt like Zane.

His smile faltered a little, and he turned to look up at his brother, "Won't you- Won't you want them back?"

Zane blinked in surprise, then smiled and shook his head, "No, Echo, you can keep them. I've got other clothes. Besides, I usually wear my gi."

Echo's eyes widened, and he looked down at the shirt and jeans in something that could have very well been awe, realising at the back of his mind that these were the first things he'd ever been able to actually classify as _his_ that didn't make up his inner mechanism. His face burst into a wide smile, and he lunged at Zane, almost sending them both flying to the floor in a hug. The titanium droid froze, startled, and then smiled as well and wrapped his arms around him.

Wu picked up the blanket and slipped out of the room, leaving the brothers to their hug.

The sun beamed through the window.

* * *

 **I wrote this in a four and a half hour car ride to visit my gran for Mothers Day. It was both convenient and brutal, and I had to take breaks in between to stop himself from getting car sick from all the reading I was doing XXD**

 **But, hey, it's done! Next chapter- or rather, either the end of next chapter or the beginning of the one after- should be the start of the Day of the Departed. I've officially decided that we _won't_ be going into Hands of Time in this one. There's going to be a third book (currently unnamed), but that'll skip over Hands of Time and into Sons of Garmadon. Hopefully, by the time we're starting the next book, we'll know who Mr E is, because I think that it might be corrupted Echo-Zane. If that theory is correct, it'll definitely be brought into the third book in some way or another.**

 **Remember, this is just a theory that's floating about. One that I am pretty convinced is true, though, but then again, just a theory.**

 **Also, I kinda want it to be true just because it means Echo-Zane's back. If it _is_ him, I'm pretty certain that he's been corrupted by the Sons of Garmadon, not just because I can't see Echo as evil, but also because it would basically backfire on his whole character and personality in season six and make absolutely no sense.**

 _ **Anyway,**_ **I've already started the next chapter and will probably be working on it on the car ride back home (ugh).**

 **Oh, and who likes the new cover image? Drew it myself. I've posted another one on my Tumblr with a speedpaint (my username's _toni4eyes_ if you wanna check it out), and it's likely I'll be doing some more Zane and Echo doodles at some point.**

 **Happy Mothers Day!**


	3. Illusion

**_Review Replies:_**

 _ **TheAmberShadow:**_ **Oh my god, you have to! Trust me when I say this is the most greatest, most _mature_ season I've ever seen. The other ones have been great, but this season is shifting away from the usual target audience and aiming more towards Ninjago's actual fandom, and it's honestly just _so good_. And... Mothers Day was yesterday? Oh, it's probably a different day wherever you are- I'm in England. And glad you liked the cover, I'm pretty proud of it!**

 _ **razena:**_ **Aw, thanks! Hey, aren't you the person that favourited literally every Ninjago thing I've posted on Tumblr in one go? I'm was a little surprised by that XXD No problem! It's an easy thing to get confused with. I've only had a panic attack once, and it was definitely not as bad as the one Echo had, but you gotta remember that he's got full blown PTSD. I hope your owns get better soon, friend. And it's no problem, _Empty Echoes_ was a while ago- the Ninja have dubbed the 'minions' Black Rags, but the whole group itself is called Basilisk. I didn't have any internet during the car ride, so I had to wait until we got to my grans to actually post the chapter, but thankfully it didn't get that bad XXD It was nice seeing them all for Mothers Day.**

 _ **Isabella camovic:**_ **Heh, you'll get some more soon. There's not a that much this chapter, but there's definitely some next chapter. And of course they need to use the toilet- Zane didn't realise he was a droid for years and years, you'd think he'd realise something was up if he didn't need to use the toilet. Since he's more advanced, his 'stuff' looks like actual stuff, whereas Echo's is 'black-grey' and whatnot. Besides, they both need to eat, and what they eat has to go somewhere, right? They gave Echo clothes because he was feeling exposed, the whole reason he was dragging that blanket around for a week. I'm kinda basing Echo's experience with being literally torn apart by Jerhys off of rape victims: he feels exposed and violated, and it's common for victims to develop an obsession, almost, with safety blankets, their protective shields. Since Echo never wore clothes, so is unused to them, he can find the same safety in that instead of just blankets. This chapter is more a filler than anything else, but the fluff and action should kick off next chapter during the Day of the Departed. I've decided to keep in the puppy idea, but it won't be added for a while- not sure when exactly, but I know where I'm gonna put it. Maybe a chapter or two after Day of the Departed.**

* * *

 _Chapter Three:_

Illusion

* * *

Kai's skin was healing impossibly fast. When they'd first got Echo back, it had been crinkled and red, almost misshapen in some places. But in the short span of three months, it was like he'd almost healed completely; his hands were still really sore, making using them a downright pain (literally), and the flesh around the right side of his eye and forehead were sensitive and likely to scar.

But the rest of him? A bit more bedrest and perhaps some physical therapy, and he'll be good as new. At least, that's what Zane told him.

Wu and Misako suspected it had something to do with him being a fire elemental.

Lloyd still had his arm in a sling, but it should be coming off in a week or two. He had a scar on his hand from when a bullet had shot through it, and a tiny nick on his earlobe that wasn't very noticeable unless you stared for a good few minutes. His concussion was better, although he tended to still grimace at any sudden light, but he should be all good in a few more weeks.

As for Jay… Kai wasn't sure _how_ his brother felt about losing his eye. There were times where he'd be really quiet, or really annoyed with the amount of times he's walked into something or completely missed the thing he's trying to pick up, and then there would be times where he's babbling on about the awesome eyepatch he was going to get, and asking Nya if he should get some sort of lightning design on it.

The wound had been infected at one point, but they were thankfully able to fight it off before it could do any damage to something important. As for his shoulder, the one that had been torn open by a knife, it was more or less healed, to everyone's relief. But there was little they could do about his newly empty eye socket.

Then there was Echo.

He didn't even know where to begin with Echo.

Kai sighed, dragging himself from his bed. He was starting to ache again. Out the corner of his eye, he saw Jay turn over in his sleep; the giant, white plaster hiding the gaping hole was stark against his face, even in the dark. Zane and Echo were curled up together on the bunk below him, Gizmo resting on a pillow next to them. Everyone was fast asleep. The clock told him it was almost five in the morning.

He trudged out of the room and decided a hot shower was in order.

* * *

"No."

"Zane-"

" _No_."

"He needs to learn to protect himself."

" _I'll_ be there to protect him."

"You can't always be there."

"I can try."

"If something like this happens again-"

"It _won't_ happen again."

"We don't know if Basilisk is still out there or not. They could come after him."

"The only reason they took him in the first place was because they thought he was me."

"And who's to say they won't make the same mistake again?"

"Seeing as how one of them died because of it, I'd say it won't."

"He destroyed them. Took down all of Ouroborus. Don't you think they might want revenge?"

"If they want him, they have to go through me."

"Zane, he's _dangerous._ "

"We don't even know if Jerhys is alive!"

"I'm not talking about Jerhys."

There was a beat of silence. He didn't move.

"He'd never hurt anyone."

"He hurt the Black Rags."

"They were going to kill him. They were going to kill _us_."

"He had no control, Zane. Who's to say he won't get angry again? Won't let his emotions take control? He caused a hurricane. He caused a snowstorm."

"You actually think he'll be able to get that angry again?"

"Maybe."

Another pause.

"... This is the logical choice, Zane."

A robotic sigh, "I know. But if he knows how to fight, who's to say he won't come jumping in on our little adventures? What if he wants to become a Ninja?"

"He was built to protect those that aren't able to protect themselves. Just like you."

"I don't want him fighting."

"He'd never cause a fight without reason."

"I don't want him fighting at _all_. Reason or not."

"He already knows the basics of combat. He helped free you from the Djiin Blade."

"PIXAL."

"Zane."

"... I don't want him to get hurt."

"Neither do I."

Silence descended upon the deck. It didn't lift.

Gizmo rolled away.

* * *

" _But King Cookie, how can we celebrate the Day of the Departed without any lanterns?"_

" _Fear not, Little Susie,"_ said the cartoon king, with his rosy cheeks and big red cape, patting Little Susie on the shoulder with a stick hand, " _I am sure the neighbouring kingdom, my dear friend King Crumb, will be more than happy to help us!"_

Echo hummed happily, colouring in Jay's blue gi with messy marker scribbles. He'd left the colouring book behind after almost getting his arm torn off back at the film site (was that seriously only three months ago?) and had completely forgotten about it until Cole came back from a short trip to the city with it, having ran into Dareth at some point, who had surprisingly decided to hang onto it. Echo made a mental note to thank him whenever he saw him again.

As for why Cole had gone to Ninjago City in the first place, Echo wasn't really sure. He thought it had something to do with Serpentine, probably the ones living beneath the city, but other than that he knew nothing.

" _Let's go, Happy Hog!"_ Little Susie said, turning to her scribble-ball of a companion, " _We have to go with King Cookie to visit his friend and ask to borrow some lanterns so we can celebrate the Day of the Departed!"_

" _Oh, how lovely!"_ gushed Happy Hog, " _King Cookie and King Crumb are the best of friends! I'm sure King Crumb will be more than happy to share his Day of the Departed lanterns with us- happy as a Happy Hog!"_

"Dear lord."

Echo jumped a little, before twisting around to find Kai standing in the doorway, Jay and Nya peeking curiously over his shoulder. The burnt fire ninja looked absolutely horrified.

"Why would you _show_ him this?" he asked. His head snapped around to look at Nya and Jay. "Who showed him this?"

"Misako, I think," Nya answered. She slipped around her brother, not as horrified as him but certainly not appearing all that excited about the program displayed on their television. She looked down at Echo, who was lying on his stomach on the floor. "Having fun?"

Echo smiled up at her and nodded. Kai followed his sister into the room, regarding the program with a suppressed disgust. Jay came up behind him and accidentally kicked the back of the couch, igniting a yelp from his lips. He jumped back, hoping one foot as he brought his injured up one to grab in his hands. He grimaced, the bandage over his eye tugging irritatingly at his skin.

" _Ow_."

"How many times have you done that?" asked Kai, as Jay rubbed at his baby toe. Nya piped up before he could answer.

"Six times today," she said, "Four this morning, twice this afternoon. Fifteen if you count yesterday as well."

Jay shot her an exasperated look, "Good to know you've been keeping track."

"You love me."

"Yeah," Jay slumped, "Yeah, nothing I can really do about that."

Kai snorted. Nya rolled her eyes, approaching the lightning ninja and giving him a peck on the cheek.

"Nothing I can really do about that either, turns out," she said, smiling. Jay smiled back at her. In the background, Kai gagged, pointing into his open mouth and pulling a face at Echo. The droid giggled as the other two shot the fire elemental looks.

Kai smiled innocently at them, before his eyes trailed down to look at Echo's colouring book. He blinked, then grinned. "Jay, he's given you an eyepatch."

"Really?" Jay said, perking up, "Do I look cool?"

"You look like a piece of paper with blue marker all over it."

"Lemme see," Jay clambered over the top of the couch, undeterred by Kai's comment, and crouched beside a blushing Echo to get a better look at the drawing, "Ooh, nice! I look _awesome_! Nya, come see this!"

Nya decided to be a bit more sensible and skirt around the couch instead of climbing over it, crouching next to Jay and raising an amused eyebrow at the drawing. "It's, um… very artistic."

Kai opened his mouth to say something, but he met Echo's eyes and it died in his throat. The fire ninja sighed. "It's… well done, Echo."

Echo beamed shyly at him, twisting his fingers in his too long sleeves. He glanced over at the tv in time to see Little Susie, Happy Hog and King Cookie climbing out of the purple carriage pulled by yellow horses in King Crumb's neighbouring kingdom. Jay flipping through the colouring book drew his attention away again.

"Hey, they've got some villains here, too," he said, pointing to the picture of a man in a strange tentacle-like hat, which Echo had only coloured in sky blue, "I think that's Chen."

"Oh, yeah," Nya murmured, bending a little for a closer look. She pointed to the page next to it, at a long-necked Serpentine that had been scribbled in orange, "That must be Pythor."

"Huh," Kai hummed, shifting closer a little to get a better look at the colouring book, "He's a lot more… orange than I remember."

Jay snorted, settling back against the couch and ruffling Echo's hair, "Mind if we play our video games in a bit, buddy? We're gonna have a tournament."

"Which I'm gonna win," Nya declared. Kai shot her a playful scowl.

"We'll see about that."

"If you'd like to," Echo muttered, twisting his sleeves. He glanced over at the tv again, watching as the three characters were greeted by King Crumb, who looked almost identical to King Cookie besides the fact that he had an orange cape and blond hair. Out the corner of his eye, he saw Jay and Kai looking at each other.

"As incredibly disturbing as I find this… _program_ to be," said Kai, wrinkling his nose at the cartoon and making the burns on the side of his face even more obvious, "Why don't you watch another one or two and _then_ we play our video game?"

Echo broke out into a grateful smile and nodded. He settled back down on his stomach, picking up his markers and continuing his colouring. Onscreen, the purple carriage that now carried all the borrowed Day of the Departed lanterns had lost its wheel, and Little Susie was asking the Friendly Fish to help her retrieve it from the bottom of the river. The three Ninja seated themselves on the couch behind him, Kai showing them something he'd found on his phone.

Zane poked his head through the door a little while later, just as the two kingdoms set their lanterns into the night time sky. He smiled down at his little brother, Cole coming in behind him. He blinked at the television.

"Oh, hey, that's right," the ghost said, hands going to his hips as Little Susie waved goodbye; Echo waved back, "It's almost Day of the Departed."

"It's a real holiday?" Echo asked, eyes widening. The five Ninja stared at him.

"Day of the Departed? Of course it's a real holiday," said Kai, unconsciously prodding at the mushy flesh above his eye, "You've never heard about it?"

Echo shook his head. Zane's brow furrowed a little.

"Father… he didn't have a proper calendar," he pointed out, almost seeming to be grasping at straws, "Did he ever put out lanterns? Special looking lights a certain time of year?"

Echo cocked his head to the side, thinking. After a moment, he shook his head. "Not that I'm aware of."

"Huh," said Nya, frowning in consideration, "I guess that makes sense. Didn't Dr Julian say that the only sort of time he was allowed to be aware of was how many days until he needed to get something finished for the skeleton army?"

"Yeah, something like that," murmured Cole, tapping his bottom lip. He shook his head, looking back down at Echo. "Do you know what it is now?"

Echo nodded proudly, pointing to the screen as the credits rolled, "The Happy Hog told me about it."

" _He's adorable."_

The droid jumped at the sudden voice, looking at Zane in surprise. His older brother blinked, then looked amused, lips twitching. Nya grinned.

"Hey, PIXAL," she greeted, "Finally got that speaker worker?"

" _I have indeed,"_ said PIXAL, her voice implying a smile. Zane shook his head, smiling as well.

"She's having fun with it," he said, "Startled Lloyd a bit."

"Where is our green boy, anyway?" asked Kai, stretching out on the couch, "Last I saw him, he was meditating."

"He's helping Mrs G set the table," Cole said, "Speaking of which, dinners ready."

Jay paused, a sort of terror crossing his face, "It wasn't your turn to cook, was it?"

"It was Lloyd's," Cole drawled, unamused. Jay blew out a dramatically relieved breath, slumping against the back of the couch.

"Thank the lord."

Cole rolled his eyes, before turning around and phasing through the wall. His voice filtered through the halls as he shouted over his shoulder. "Come get it before I eat it all!"

Jay was out of his seat in moments, dashing after their brother. His shoulder bashed against the edge of the doorway as he passed it, and he stumbled, almost falling flat on his face. With a short shout, he clenched his teeth and vanished down the hall.

Echo straightened, sitting on his haunches and wondering if he was okay. Nya helped Kai off the couch, leading him out of the living room. Zane offered his hand to Echo and pulled him to his feet.

"Come on," he said, wrapping an arm around his little brothers' shoulders, "I'm sure PIXAL will be more than happy to tell you anything you'd like to know about the Day of the Departed."

" _That I will_."

* * *

 _My hands were ripped and bleeding, dirt stinging at the open wounds. My breaths were tight in my chest, restricted, as though my ribs had thickened to the point that my lungs struggled to properly expand. I fell to my knees, gripping the edge of the wooden dock, relishing in the pain that throbbed in my hands, the splinters that jabbed into my fingers. I watched the gentle waves, lapping against the posts and boat bottoms, the sun reflecting off its surface._

 _It was there. It had to be there. Where else could it be?_

 _Excitement curled in my chest, only leaving me more breathless, my lungs more restricted, but I couldn't bring myself to care. I was close. I was getting so close._

 _I dived into the water._

A little bell going off tore my attention from the memory. I turned in my seat, watching as she made her way over to the booth I'd claimed, looking positively bored out of her mind. She wasn't wearing rags anymore, but rather a hoodie and jeans. Her abnormal violet eyes were stark against her pale skin.

"Good evening, Violet," I greeted, as she slid into the seat across from me, "Happy you could make it."

"Likewise," Violet said, still glancing about the little noodle shop, "This is an… interesting place to meet."

"A less suspicious one," I point out; out the corner of my eye, I saw a girl beginning to make her way over, presumably to ask what we'd like to eat, "Spotting someone going into an abandoned and dangerous ruined pub would arise _some_ sort of curiosity, no?"

Violet snorted, "That labyrinth's been there for years, Dewer. The pub was a… family business before it got destroyed."

"Hey," the girl greeted, brushing some bright red hair out of her face before pulling out her pen, ready to start noting orders, "Can I get you anything?"

"I'll have some shrimp and noodles," Violet told her, without looking away from me, "A bit of soy sauce as well, please."

"Shrimp and noodles with soy sauce," the girl repeated, jotting that down, "Got it. And you, sir?"

I shook my head, "I'll just have some tea, please."

"Alright," she wrote my order down, before tucking the pen behind her ear, "I'll get your orders up soon."

We watched her go until she vanished behind the counter. Violet leaned back in her seat, cocking her head to the side a little as she returned her attention to me.

"You know she's an Elemental Master, right?"

"Of course I know that," I said, rolling my eyes, "Everyone knows that Chen's noodle business was taken over by his daughter."

"Not everyone's aware that she's an Elemental Master, though," Violet pointed out, picking at a stain on the table, "When all the hero-vs-villain things die down again, no one will care, either."

"Like after the Overlord was defeated? Well, when they thought he was defeated," I corrected, "Didn't the Ninja become teachers after that?"

"Wu insisted on it, I think," Violet explained, "With no evil to protect the good from, what's the use of protectors in the first place? They had to go find real jobs like the rest of us," She shook her head, "But no more of that. We both know you didn't invite me here to talk about the Elemental Masters."

Violet paused, then cocked her head to the side, "Or did you?"

"A certain few," I admitted, "I'm afraid of them getting in the way."

"Everyone's afraid of the Ninja getting in the way," said Violet, "What do you want me to do about it?"

"Jerhys wants them. That's the whole reason why he took the robot's brother."

She raised an eyebrow at me, "And?"

"And I think I may be able to help."

Violet glanced over her shoulder, over at where we could see the redhaired elemental was pouring a cup of tea. She returned her gaze to me.

"And you chose a known Ninja ally's noodle shop to talk about it?"

"Don't be so paranoid," I drawled. She glared at me.

"They know your facing," she said, "You betrayed them. Chances are she knows your face too. Isn't she dating one of them?"

"Honestly? Not sure," I said, glancing over at the elemental again; she was doing something above the stove, "But that doesn't matter. What matters is that I can help you."

Violet's eyes were still hard. She looked over her shoulder again, watching as the elemental placed our order on a tray. Her gaze remained hard as she returned it to me.

"Start talking."

* * *

 **Another four and a half hour car ride, another chapter completed with the other one already started. I'd go on four and a half hour car rides more often, but I don't think my butt would be able to take it.**

 **So, Violet and Carrot return! And a sort of Skylor cameo as well. Also, can I just say how much I love Cole calling Misako 'Mrs G' in the latest Ninjago episode? I don't know why, but I just really like it. Never really considered how the Ninja would address her, I'd just assumed that they called her 'Misako' or something. And PIXAL's finally interacting with Echo, as well as a bit more insight on the Ninja's healing!**

 **Next chapter goes into the Day of the Departed. I wonder if a certain someone will be coming back? Hmm...**

 **Well, I'm exhausted, I've missed my art mock exam and I'm missing the Dr Jekyll and My Hyde play that I really wanted to go see, but whatever. New chapter. I'm yawning.**

 **Hope you liked it.**


	4. Villainy

_**Review Replies:**_

 **HeyZaneGoodDay: Glad you're liking it! It's an interesting idea. I may consider it.**

 **insanitythedoll: *thumbs up***

 **Ebony umbreon: I dunno, but it seriously got on my nerves. Really hopping it's not gonna be happening again now that I'm back.**

 **Guest221: Yeah, I'm doing alright! No need to worry XXD I've just been a little bit busy is all, and I've also got another story going, so I was putting a lot of my attention on that. We should be back to regular updates now!**

 **ArmoredSoul: Yas.**

 **Isabella camovic: Yeah, I'm back. Here's that chappy! And that's an... interesting idea, I suppose XXD I don't think I really have anywhere to fit any of that in if I actually wanted to, but, uh... I dunno XXD Wow, I kinda forgot how specific your suggestions can get. Zane's conversation about him not wanting Echo to learn how to fight was with PIXAL, not Kai, and Echo doesn't know about it, only Gizmo; I do have _something_ kinda like this planned for the future. You'll have to wait and find out on whether or not Echo will learn how to fight ::) The cartoon is just a little thing thrown in to show how young Echo really is.**

 **ABCSKW123-IX: Yeah, poor Jay. He's trying to keep his spirits up, though! Yup, here are Violet and Carrot. And yeah, I seriously thought Mr E was going to be Echo, but then there they said that while it was something they'd been seriously considering, they overall decided not to go through with it and just killed him off. Which was... incredibly disappointing. Not only because we still have no idea what's happened to Echo, but also because we now have absolutely nothing on Mr E at all and we're probably never ever going to see him again (like those three Vermillion Generals). Seriously disappointing, really.**

 **StoriesAreMagic: Yay, Echo being adorable XXD I'm glad you're liking it!**

 **Guest: Yeah, Cole calling Misako 'Mrs G' surprised me too, but I decided I liked it! We never really see the Ninja beside Lloyd interacting with Misako. I like how they've implemented the fact that she's their best friends mum, and that they're comfortable enough with her to give her nicknames like 'Mrs G,' much like actual kids would.**

 **razena: Hehe, it's awesome when two people you like update at the same time! And it's alright, I don't mind XXD I'm glad you liked my Tumblr stuff. And the fanart XXD I hope your panic attacks aren't being any trouble, even after all this time; they definitely suck. And yes, a basilisk is a mythical creature XXD And yes, that is true XXD Hope you like the chapter!**

 **TheAmberShadow: Yeah, holiday's are weird. We had Mother's Day on March 31st this year (I just looked through our previous 'conversations' and had to laugh at the fact that we had been getting confused over Mother's Day and I unintentionally used it as an example all this time later XXD). Yeah, they're just talking about training Echo. Misako just kinda stumbled across it. Pffffffffffffffffffft, Pythor would probably say something very witty XXD Yaas, DotD XXD Since it's basically Halloween (or... you know... literally Delos de las Muertos), they'd very likely have their shows surround them a bit.**

 **Nora Mutao Frost: I'm glad! So sorry I haven't been active lately. Hope you're doing good!**

 **... I... honestly don't really have an excuse.**

* * *

 _Chapter Four:_

Villainy

* * *

"We're gonna be late!"

Zane jolted upwards, startled by the shout. Next to him, Jay woke rather violently from his nap, yelping loudly as he tumbled off the couch from where he'd been cuddling with Nya and onto the floor, the mentioned girl shooting up with a sai clutched in hand, eyes darting left and right in search of a threat. Echo blinked sleepily at the groaning Jay from his nest of blankets, rubbing at his eyes in an attempt to wake himself up a bit more. Seeing as how the screen had gone back to the start menu, it was safe to assume that the movie had finished quite a while ago.

"Guys, get up! The stores are gonna close soon!"

The nindroid turned, looking over his shoulder to find Lloyd already tugging on his shoes, clumsy in his haste to get ready. Then he turned to look at the clock, and his eyes widened. It was almost half six. How long had they been sleeping?

"Oh crap!" gasped Kai, having come to the same realisation as Zane, leaping from his beanbag and tripping over Jay as he made to get up, which sent him tumbling right through Cole's ghostly body to kiss the floorboards.

"Hey!" Cole yelled, "Watch where you're falling!"

"That was _Jay's_ fault-"

" _You_ tripped over _me_ -"

"Not now, guys!" Nya cut them off, sheathing her sai and helping them off the floor, "We gotta go!"

Zane climbed off the couch and helped Echo untangle himself from his blankets, before he led him out into the hall, grabbing his little brothers grey jumper off the clothes hook as they passed it (the Birch Forest was cold, after all). Behind him, he heard Cole shout something about the movie, but he was already halfway down the hall.

"Radar jet!" Jay gasped, stumbling over to the new vehicle and collapsing against its side before anyone else could claim it, "Dibs on radar jet!"

"Aw, what?" Cole groaned, appearing next to him, "Come on!"

"Let's go, let's go, let's go!" Lloyd chanted, already climbing into one of their new vehicles at a seemingly random pick. Cole grumbled something good naturedly, hurrying to his second pick before anyone else could get to it first.

Zane, still holding Echo's hand, tugged him towards their vehicle, helping him into it. They'd added in a seat directly behind the drivers just for him, one that Zane had made sure was decently enforced. Echo swung his legs excitedly as Zane clipped the straps together at the centre of his chest (a feature all of their ninja vehicles had for safety reasons), but he did so in absolute silence. He'd noticed that, some days, his little brother wouldn't say a word, even if he was genuinely happy, and Zane had yet to figure out why. The fact worried him.

After he'd buckled himself in, Zane turned on the ignition, the engine roaring to life. PIXAL appeared on the screen. She smiled and waved at Echo, who enthusiastically waved back. The rest of his siblings were already beginning to zip away, kicking up clouds of sand. The Super Sonic Radar Jet lifted into the sky and shot after them.

Zane took one last glance at the time and pressed down on the pedal.

* * *

There were only two other times where Cole had faded off.

The first time had been while they were being taken to Ouroborus by the Basilisks. Jay had been screaming- god, he had been screaming, and his eye had been so bad, Cole had been almost certain he wasn't going to make it- and then one of the Basilisk had started beating him, shouting at him in their foreign language, and they'd all been screaming too, screaming at them to stop. The only reason they did was because Cole had suddenly vanished, chains clattering to the ground. He'd been so startled upon reappearing, he hadn't even had the chance to comprehend fighting back before their attacks were being turned on _him_.

But at least they stopped hurting Jay.

With everything that happened afterwards, Cole had completely forgotten about the mishap. Until it happened again, three months later, while they were training on the Bounty. They'd been stacking themselves up in a human tower, Cole using his super strength to hold everyone else up from the bottom.

Then he'd flickered, faltered, disappeared and the whole tower came crumbling down.

So when it happened again as he and his siblings were racing across the desert to town, he'd been truly afraid that he would not be fading back into being.

It was so much worse than before, though. His vehicle was swerving rapidly, spinning, leaving tracks in the sand. He could hear Jay shouting over the intercoms. Cole squeezed his eyes shut.

 _Come back. Come back. Come back._

He didn't want to die.

* * *

Since it was the Day of the Departed, most stores closed earlier than usual, but they were thankfully able to rush in before it could. Echo had looked a little dazed after Zane spinjitzued inside with him in his arms, but had started giggling by the time he'd looked down to make sure he was alright.

The shopkeeper seemed to have been just making his way over to the door to lock up, and Zane found himself smiling sheepishly at them when they looked like they were about to pass out from shock. A reasonable reaction, considering a ghost, a girl, two nindroids, a pirate, an obviously badly burnt boy and a blond had appeared in their shop in a burst of colourful mini-tornados.

They were still rather faint as they sold them their lanterns, although Echo seemed too excited to notice. He was practically bouncing as Zane paid for the two lanterns, and his eyes lit up as he handed him his one, the red glow reflecting off his face.

Thanking the shopkeeper- who raised their hand in a weak farewell- Zane took a mesmerised Echo's hand again and led him after the others, although he scarcely looked away from his lantern. Wu and Misako were waiting for them outside.

"There you lot are," Misako said, lips twitching, "What were you even up to?"

Jay smiled sheepishly, adjusting his new blue eyepatch, "We, uh… we fell asleep watching _Coco._ "

"It was good," Lloyd declared, fiddling with his sling the best he could without putting his lantern down. The mother chuckled.

"Well, at least you enjoyed it," she said, "And you got your lanterns anyway."

Zane hummed, "Yes. The Day of the Departed would be incomplete without a Day of the Departed lantern."

"Ohh, this is my _favourite_ holiday," said Nya, "I love all the lights!"

"Yeah, look at all the costumes," Kai grinned, gesturing to the crowd of people that were, indeed, dressed in various types of costumes; Echo was pretty sure someone was dressed up as a sunflower, pot and all. Another two people were the front and back ends of a horse; someone else looked like a clown. It was a rather strange custom, but he decided he liked it.

"And the candy!" Jay butted in. He spun around to face a group of passing children, dressed up and carrying sacks of sweets. "Hit me, kid!"

One child, dressed as what might have been a pilot of sorts, giggled and tossed him the unwrapped piece they were about to eat. Jay went to catch it with his mouth, jumping up slightly; but he misjudged its position, the angle, and instead it bonked him on the nose and would have hit the ground had Nya's hand not snatched out and caught it.

Jay blinked, and for a brief moment a deep frustration twisted on his face. But then he was smiling and laughing, accepting the candy from Nya with a grateful look.

"Thanks, Nya. Candy's too good to waste."

She frowned for a moment, before smiling as well, "Of course."

"Yes, enjoy the fun and festivities," said Wu, as he began to lead them through town, "But never lose sight of the true meaning of the Day of the Departed. Today is about remembrance; we light lanterns to remember our ancestors and to settle our debts."

"Yeah, got it, got it," Jay cut in, "Lanterns, ancestors, settle our debts- but candy too, right?"

As though to emphasise his point, he stuffed the candy the kid had given him into his mouth. Lloyd shook his head, although his lips twitched into an amused smile.

"It's good for remembering lost loved ones," he said, quietly, that amused smile growing sadder. And to that they all nodded, expressions sad but smiling. Misako reached out and squeezed her son's good shoulder.

 _Like Father,_ Echo realised. Something coiled in his mechanical chest and he looked to Zane. His brother was regarding his own red lantern, silver brow creased, perhaps thoughtful but not quite. There was something else he couldn't identify.

He must have felt his gaze, for he turned and met it. Zane blinked, then smiled and looped an arm around Echo's shoulders, tugging him closer. Echo leant into his touch.

Conversation between the other Ninja abruptly cut; a new voice had made itself known.

"Ah, the Ninja!" exclaimed the man, his voice squeaky and high, glasses perched on the bridge his nose and his beard long, "The Master Wu!"

"Dr Saunders," said Wu, inclining his head in greeting; Echo blinked. Saunders laughed, a somewhat grating sound, and shook his head.

"Oh, please, we are all friends, you must call me by my first name, yes!" the man insisted, spinning, "Sanders, yes?"

Kai raised his eyebrows and leant closer to Nya, lowering his voice, "Dr Sanders Saunders?"

He must have not said it quietly enough, for Saunders turned to him with a big beam, "At your service!"

He burst into little laughing giggles. Echo shuffled his feet and shifted a bit closer to Zane. He gave him a reassuring squeeze.

"I am so pleased to be seeing you as is now!" Saunders said, "We are opening our new exhibit! Come, you see! Come!"

He insistently led them along, Wu, Misako and the Ninja trailing after him. Echo stuck close to Zane, Gizmo zipping around his feet. He tried not to accidentally trip over him. Or step on him. That would probably be bad.

Saunders led them to the museum, then further to a closed off section. He unlocked the expanse, heavy doors and threw them open, the lights of the room behind them and their lanterns casting lengths of shadow across the room.

"Might I be presenting!" Saunders announced, voice magnified by the wide room like a tunnel. He led them inside, the lights flickering on. "The Hall of Villainy!"

The Ninja gasped. The hall was full of plastic statues. Towering and ghastly, they stood upon tall pedestals; their faces were twisted into vicious smirks and grimacing scowls, glaring down at them, bearing weapons of various designs. They were ghastly in design, the sort that might enjoy tearing your throat out.

Echo froze in place, something cold running through his wires; there was a particularly loud tick, and Zane was looking at him. He wrapped an arm around his shoulders comfortingly.

"It's alright," he said, quietly, "They're not real. Just statues."

The nindroid forced himself to relax, nodding, and leant into his brother's side. His hand came up automatically to cover the clockwork heart beneath his sweater, muffling it only slightly. A few of the Ninja glanced at him and sent him reassuring looks. They followed Dr Saunders into the exhibit.

"Cryptor!" said the man, flaying an expressive hand towards a statue of a black nindroid, red eye furrowed into a harsh glare; the other was covered by some sort of device, like an eyepatch. Or perhaps that _was_ the other eye.

"A plastic mannequin," Zane observed. Dr Saunders then gestured to another statue, this one of a samurai warrior, face painted white and red.

"Kozu!"

Lloyd gave a startled laugh, "Uncanny."

"Chen!"

This one was of a man, considerably wrinkled and with red paint around his eyes. He had something large and purple around his neck to the back of his head, although Echo couldn't tell if it was apart of his helmet or something else. Beside him, Nya shook her head, lips quirking, and sighed.

"Memor-"

"Kaze!"

Echo hadn't even realised he'd spoken until everyone's eyes were spinning towards him, much less did he realise this was the first word he'd spoken in almost two days. But he quickly found that he didn't care.

He ducked away from Zane and darted passed the other Ninja, then Dr Saunders, ignoring Jay's questioning voice. He ran to the other end of the hall and came to a stop in front of one of the final statue's, the one that was most certainly, without a doubt, Kaze; he stood pale, black hair with a streak of green, with those strange, pale green markings around his eyes. Except at the same time it _wasn't_ Kaze; this Kaze bore a devious smirk, while _his_ had been much softer, much more genuine; that same foul look of evil was plastered on his face like all the rest of the statues.

But these small things (these untrue things) did little to deter Echo's excitement. He spun to face his brother, who was staring with wide electric eyes, and pointed to the statue.

"It's Kaze!" he exclaimed, "Zane, it's Kaze!"

The Ninja had gone rather quiet. Colour had drained from Lloyd's face. Misako looked at Wu, but the sensei said nothing. But Echo didn't notice this. He turned to face the statue again, looking at it up and down. He noticed the minor things that it lacked: it lacked the purple bags that had hung beneath his eyes, the little nicks and scars on his hands from navigating through the rocky surfaces of

LIGHTHOUSE.

It lacked the skeletal structure of Kaze in general, the sickly sheen of his skin, achieved through many days (many months, even. Maybe even years.) of sitting in a cold, damp cell with only the occasional meal. No, this Kaze was different. Incredibly different. But it was still most definitely Kaze.

Dr Saunders abruptly laughed and appeared next to him, making the droid jump in surprise, "No, no, this is Morro! The Ghost of the Past! The Preeniment's Fallen Champion, no?"

He laughed again. Echo blinked at him, brow furrowing deeply. Zane appeared next to him and gently tugged him back to his side, running titanium fingers over his stiff hair.

"We'll talk about it in a little bit," he promised, but there was something off about his smile. Echo looked back up at the statue of Kaze, then smiled and nodded. A little pang hit his chest. He wondered where he was. If he was okay.

(If he was alive.)

"Checking this out!" said Dr Saunders, hurrying them over to the end of the exhibit, "We don't just open on Day of Departed," he came to a stop in front of another pedestal, although this one held up a piece of parchment, a design of moons, black moons, and the sun scrawled across it; some were black, some were white, and some were a mix of the two, swirling together in a dangerous dance.

(Good in evil.)

"It's Day of Departed Lunar Eclipse!"

(Evil in good.)

"The rarest Yin Yang eclipse," Wu hummed. Only Misako noticed the faint stiffness in his aged shoulders.

"Oh, poetic, is it not?" asked Dr Saunders, "Scary holiday, scary exhibit, scary moon… there is _magic_ in the air! _Boogely-Boogely!_ "

He yelled the last part, loud enough to make his voice bounce across the walls of the empty exhibit. Echo jumped, shrinking against Zane. He smiled and held him a little closer.

Kai glanced around, turning to face the plastic mannequins. The scarred flesh of around his eye was distinct in the somewhat dim lighting.

"It's… every villain we've ever faced," he said, quietly. Cole was looking off to the side.

"Not… every villain," he said. Dr Saunders chuckled and shook his head.

"No, there are many more to unpack!" he declared, gesturing to the boxes at the back of the hall, "Overlord, Golden Master, Basilisk, all the ones that tried to destroy you!"

A few of the Ninja winced. Echo actually flinched. His brother gripped him a little tighter. Dr Saunders didn't seem to notice.

"Exciting!"

"Uh, yeah," Jay grimaced, "Exciting."

"Come, come, continuing further into the exhibit," said Dr Saunders, leading them onwards, "Down this way, we have-"

Echo didn't hear what he said next. His eyes had found the skeleton.

He froze, for a split second believing it to be real, believing it to be more than just a plastic statue. Zane, having been tugged to a stop as well, looked down at him with a little frown.

"Echo?" he said, "What's wrong?"

He didn't answer. The statue grinned at him, all bones, black holes for eyes, four arms. And he knew with an undying certainty-

 _(Beneath the floors)_

-That this was the one that wrapped a clawed hand around his father's throat, the one that had gripped his arm so hard he'd heard metal groan and bend, the one-

 _(He pulled the trigger)_

-That took him away, far away, and-

( _Beneath the floors, beneath the floors, beneath the floors_ )

-He'd never seen his father again, he'd been all alone, he'd-

 _(He pulled)_

 _(The floors)_

 _(Search the lighthouse)_

Abruptly, Echo realised he was being jerked away. He was against a wall, was sliding to the floor. Zane was kneeling in front of him, reminding him to breathe, to look at him, that everything was alright. Wu was next to him, speaking quietly; everything was

 _(I'll tell you a tale I know nothing about)_

Hurting. Aching. Too much. Everything was too much, too much, it was too much, he was drowning, he was going to drown.

 _(One bright day in the middle of the night)_

Zane's eyes were glowing brighter; bright enough to capture Echo's attention, if only a little. Then they were dimming, going to dark that they almost went out entirely. And then brightening, brightening. Then dimming again. Brightening. Dimming. In a rhythmic pattern.

Echo forced the glow of his own eyes to follow it.

 _(Into a dry creek bed and suddenly drowned)_

Painfully slowly, it all ebbed away. Echo was left breathing deeply, shaking, ticking in his ears. Wu glanced at Zane and gave a small nod. Almost immediately, his brother was shifting forward and wrapping his arms around him.

Echo buried his face into Zane's chest, still taking deep, careful breaths. Zane was murmuring words of comfort. A hand- Wu's, Echo realised- squeezed the younger nindroids shoulder, before pulling away. Telling the others to continue with the tour.

They went and sat outside after that.

 _(If you doubt my lies are true, just ask the blind man, he saw it too.)_

* * *

 **Hey, amici! I'm really sorry that I haven't updated in... almost a year. I really don't have an excuse for that. But I promise we're getting into regular updates again!**

 **Because I'm also working on my other story, _Movie Mode_ , I'm going to be updating only once every other week. This Wednesday, it's a _Crooked Clockwork_ update. Next Wednesday will be a _Movie Mode_ update, the week after that will be _Crooked Clockwork_ and so on, so forth.**

 **I'm also writing my own book! As well as (attempting) to build an Author Platform. For anyone that's interested, I'm going to be on Tumblr posting a writing short based off a writing prompt every Monday (you can also suggest writing prompts yourselves). I'm also on Instagram and Twitter, with plans for an Authortube channel, although we'll have to see how that one goes. You can find me under _Scriibbliings_ on all of these platforms.**


	5. Lighthouse

_**Review Replies:**_

 **StoriesAreMagic: *bows* Ah-thank-you. Nothing _too_ concerning his happening between Jay and Nya, she's just worried about him. He _has_ just lost an eye. Poor Echo indeed.**

 **LucyBrick123: Aw, thank you ::) I'm sorry for not updating in so long. I was in a bit of a writing funk. I hope you like this chapter too!**

 **Nora Mutao Frost: Thank you! Don't worry, everything's all good ::) Indeed, trauma is a scar that never truly goes away.**

 **TheAmberShadow: Pffft, to be honest, I thought it was just a funny thing they threw in for laughs when I first watched Day of the Departed XXD Boy, was I wrong. Yeah, thanks for pointing that bit out! I went back and fixed it. I feel dumb for completely missing that, damn XXD The random LIGHTHOUSE thing was actually inspired by a book I've recently read- _The Survival Game_ by Nicky Singer- and it's explained a bit in this chapter. There's this girl that's been through a _heckton_ of trauma, so she locks everything away in an imaginary tower she calls Castle and whenever her thoughts wander dangerously close, she interrupts herself with CASTLE. It's something that I thought could be applied to Echo _wonderfully._ Honestly, college was _not_ getting in the way of me writing. Nothing was. I have had more than enough time to write this past year than I have in ages, but I just... I dunno. I was in a bit of writing funk, I guess. And I was putting a lot of it into writing my book, which I've rewritten about... six times now? So yeah.**

 **Nerdeology-000: Aw, I'm so happy that you like it enough to reread it! Hope you like this chapter too ::D**

 **Smile4the-World: Thank you ::) It means a lot! Hope you like this update!**

 **NaninaDaPanda: Yaaay! I'm glad I made you happy ::D And I'm also super glad to be updating again as well! Hope you have a nice day/night too! (Nay? Dight? Daght. Daight. Eh.)**

 **Why am I uploading this at a later hour than usual? I've been binge-playing my new video game. I have beat said video game.**

* * *

 _Chapter Five:_

Lighthouse

* * *

The lighthouse was safe.

Echo wasn't sure when he started using it. When he started shoving every little thing through its rickety old door, started nailing in lock after lock after lock and throwing away key after key after key. All the bad things locked away in the middle of a sea, surrounded by jagged rocks and something, something lurking beneath the waves. Far out of reach, where no one could find it. Where no one could remember it.

It was something he had been doing, he was certain, even before he left the _real_ lighthouse. The skeletons and the bullet had been the first to be locked away. And now it was the dripping, the darkness, the stabbing, icy cold as he tried to swim to freedom but sank because he had never learnt, sank and drowned and drowned and-

LIGHTHOUSE

And then there was the blood, wasn't there? The blood, the blade, the butterfly, the sack, the mangled hands and the twisted grin and the glint of the snake mask against the blinking red light of the camera and the wicked whir of the drill-

LIGHTHOUSE

All of it. Shoved into the darkest corners and sealed away, locked up tight, put under layer upon layer of wall and wall and lock and lock and jagged rock and monsters so that _no one_ could ever reach it. That no one could ever find it and surpass it. Not even Echo.

But more importantly, so nothing could ever get out.

The lighthouse was safe.

There was nothing that could hurt him there.

* * *

"We can go home, if you want."

Echo jerked his head, "No- No, m'fine."

Zane frowned, hesitating. Worried. "You're sure? We can watch another movie or… something."

"No," Echo murmured again, even though the side of his chest cavity was aching dully; but it usually did that after an attack, "M'okay."

His brother was quiet for a long moment. They were sitting on the front steps to the museum, Zane's arm wrapped around him, protective and safe and (funnily enough) warm. If Echo listened close enough, he could hear the near-silent whir of his brothers' heart. So different from his own ticking clockwork.

Finally, Zane sighed.

"Okay," he said, "But tell me if something's wrong, okay?"

Echo nodded. Zane gave him a squeeze, then pulled him into a proper hug.

"Good."

"Thank you so much for such an informative tour, Dr Saunders," Wu was saying, as he and the others came out the front doors. He shook the man's hand, who beamed at them, before returning to his shop.

Wu turned to his students, "Ninja, at the eclipse's peak, we will return here for the concert. But first, we must for forth and honour those we have lost. Those who have departed."

They began to make their way back to the vehicles. Zane stood and helped Echo to his feet, before taking him by the hand and leading him back to the Titanium Tumbler. The younger bot buckled himself in with only slightly shaky fingers, his older brother glancing back at him over his shoulder before turning the key, allowing the engine to rumble to life.

With that, they began to drive off, the other waving and shouting, "Happy Day of the Departed!" Then they all veered off to the sides, kicking up large clouds of sand. Echo pressed his face to the glass, watching them. He shot a curious look towards the entrance of the museum, where Cole's vehicle sat alone.

They rounded the corner and the vehicle was out of sight.

* * *

The drive was of some length, but the Ninja had chosen which town they were to stay close to during the holiday quite strategically. Everyone wanted to be somewhere specific for the majority of it: Jay wanted to meet up with his parents at their house, Kai and Nya wanted to return to their parents old forge, and Lloyd wanted to go to a canyon of sorts, where he'd lost his father and where a statue had been built in his honour. They were able to find a town where these locations were less than two hours away for everybody. Even more convenient, Cole's father was performing in this town, so Cole himself didn't actually have to drive anywhere- which was good, considering his hometown was the furthest.

It took roughly forty minutes for the desert around them to slowly, inch by inch, become layers of snow. The trees were thin and far-spaced, bare branches weighed down by heaps of white. The moon glinted dimly off it.

Echo pressed his face right up against the glass, peering out at the white world that had, for years, been his brothers. It was so different from the rocky shores of the lighthouse, with waves crashing against jagged rocks and something, something lurking beneath the surface. So different. And yet, in some strange way, a little similar.

"Keep an eye out for treehorns, alright?" Zane said, "They're really big, so you can't miss them. If you see one, tell me. Okay?"

Echo nodded, eyes still glued to the window. He didn't realise his brother wasn't looking at him, because, well, he was driving, until he glanced back, frowning.

"Echo?"

 _"He nodded, Zane,"_ came PIXAL's voice, amusement lacing her tone. Echo blinked, as though pulled from a trance, and looked at them. Surprise crossed Zane's face, before he chuckled and turned back to the snowy, makeshift path ahead of him.

"Alright. As so long as you're listening."

Echo returned his attention back to the window. Within the next fifteen minutes, they were pulling to a stop in a small clearing. Zane unbuckled and climbed out of the Titanium Tumbler, snow crunching beneath his feet, and looked at him expectantly. Echo unbuckled as well, moving to jump out after him, but faltered. He'd never seen snow at the lighthouse, and although he'd practically covered Stiix in the stuff, he'd never had the time to look and appreciate and _touch._ He and Kaze had been too busy trying to put as much distance between them and the town over water as fast as possible.

"Everything okay?" Zane asked, when he didn't move. Echo nodded automatically, but he didn't get out the car for a long moment. Finally, just as his brother was beginning to frown, Echo tentatively slid out of the car and onto the snow.

It crunched beneath his feet, white and surprisingly soft. He lifted one foot, blinking at the imprint he'd left behind, before lightly kicking at the white. It sprayed into the air briefly. He did it again. Then again, until he was giggling and it was soaking into the leg of his pants. Zane watched, torn between amused and confused, lips twitching into a small smile. He gave a little laugh himself.

"Okay, buddy," he said, tugging him against his side, "Come on. I wanna show you something."

He led him away from the vehicle, leaving Gizmo to sit in the driver's seat with the heating on after the little bot decided that he despised the snow with every wire in his body after he realised he would have to pick up his wheels and stumble about in it. A light dust of snowflakes floated lazily down from the sky. The snow crunched and compacted together beneath their feet, leaving behind a winding path of footprints back to the car in an otherwise barren, perfectly white world.

Echo kicked up a few tufts of snow some more along the way. With the car still insight, only somewhat obscured by the thin trees, Zane came to a stop. Echo looked up from where he was still kicking at the snow, blinking at the bark of the particularly thick tree in front of them. He shot Zane a confused look, but the older bot wasn't looking at him; he was running searching fingers along the edges of the tree, electric blue eyes narrowed in concentration.

His fingers caught on something. Then, grinning victoriously, Zane pulled open a hidden hatch, revealing the hollow insides of the tree trunk and the dark staircase leading down.

Echo's eyes widened, "Whoa…"

Zane shot him a smile, "Come on."

He took him by the hand, gently tugging him along and onto the landing. Wood creaked beneath their feet, and Echo was hit with the smell of old oil, ageing wood and mechanical parts. He was immediately reminded of the lighthouse, with its boxes of gears and wires and the grease-stained tools scattered about. Except it was different. Similar, but incredibly different. Because the lighthouse was cold stone and towering walls, the lighthouse was seagulls and crashing waves. And this place, these insides of a tree, were not the lighthouse.

No. The tree was chilly and vacant, covered in layers of dust, but Echo was almost certain that it hadn't always been this way. Was certain that, at some point, in some other time, this tree had been full of life. That the tree had been warm. Sometime before Echo.

Zane led him down the stairs, taking slow, careful steps. Echo wasn't sure whether he was afraid the stairs would cave in or whether it was because his eyes were too busy roaming around, taking in the old room before them and seeing, perhaps, what it had once been. What it had once meant.

Zane came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs. Echo paused just behind him on the second step; he could see over his brothers head this way, and glanced around, taking in the insides of the tree. The workbenches scattered with forgotten tools and old blueprints, the stuffed and overflowing bookshelf, the two beds, the pictures on the walls. Pictures of Zane, pale skinned and pure white haired rather than titanium, and their father, much younger than Echo had ever seen him.

"I grew up here," Zane said, turning to look at him with a smile, "It's where I was built."

Echo's eyes widened, although he had been beginning to suspect this. Squeezing his hand, Zane led him into the old home and over to one of the desks scattered with blueprints. He let the younger bot tentatively shuffle through them, before he paused and slowly pulled out the blueprints that built Zane.

They were much neater than Echo's had ever been. _Neater_ in the sense that they were more thought out, more precise, more accurate. And far more advanced, if the listed equipment was anything to go by. Although Echo had known this from the start. There was something about the confirmation that made his chest clench, as much as he didn't want it to.

He supposed he really was a pile of scrap.

Somewhat hastily, Echo turned away from the blueprints and began to explore the treehouse- if it could technically be considered a treehouse, but he didn't really have much of a better way to describe it. He studied the pictures, the lack of lines and age and weariness on his father's face, how young the look in his brother's eyes was. There was no Gizmo- Echo had never considered that he might have not been built at the lighthouse, but he was fairly certain now that he had not been- but there was Falcon, perched in one photo on Zane's arm.

"Hey, Echo," the other nindroid called, "Come over here."

Echo found him further back in the treehouse, squeezed into a tight space between the wall and a shelf. There were boxes of various size stacked in this tight space, and Zane was kneeling down, rummaging through one. The younger droid cocked his head, trying to peer inside, but his brother's head was in the way.

After a moment, Zane pulled back, glancing over his shoulder. He smiled. "Check it out."

Echo inched closer, squeezing into the tight space next to Zane. He looked into the box and blinked.

It was full of toys. Old toys, from the looks of it, but they had clearly been cared for. There was a wooden toy car with black wheels that spun when Echo swept his hand over them. A toy rabbit with a somewhat frayed ear and a purple tie. A few jigsaw puzzles and children's books. And, tucked neatly in a yellow folder at the bottom, drawings. Messy, childish crayon drawings with Zane's name scribbled in green in even messier handwriting.

A sudden chuckle in his ear. Zane was looking over his shoulder.

"I remember those," he said, "I was so proud of them. Father hung them up on the walls."

"He… He did?" Echo asked, something cold in his stomach. Zane nodded, his eyes growing a little bit distant; his smile faltered, but he didn't say anything. Carefully, Echo slid the drawings back into the folder and returned them to the box. Trying not to think about his own drawings. The ones he'd later often find in the trash.

"Echo?"

He turned to his brother, grateful for the distraction. Zane was frowning, but he didn't look worried. He looked sad.

"I'm sorry," he said, "That we left you there."

Echo blinked, "What? Zane-"

"Why aren't you mad at him?" Zane cut him off, "After what he did to you. After how he just… forgot about you. Doesn't that… Doesn't that make you upset?"

Echo was quiet. Of course it hurt. Everything about it hurt. But he knew it wasn't his father's fault. Not really. It wasn't his fault the skeletons had taken him away. It wasn't his fault he'd had a bullet pointed to his head. It wasn't his fault that they'd broken him, then taken him back to the lighthouse and dumped him long after he'd been found and rescued by Zane and the Ninja. It wasn't his fault, because his father had thought he'd never see him again. And why would he want to, when he had the _real_ Zane again?

Why would anyone want an echo, when they could have the original?

The tree was incredibly different from the lighthouse. Mostly because Zane was everywhere. His old things, his old bed, his old drawings, his old toys, his old books, the pictures of him still hanging on the walls. And where had Echo been in the lighthouse? He'd never own anything. He'd never had his own bed, despite the many rooms. He'd never had toys or books. He'd never had pictures of him and his father or him and Gizmo or just him hanging on the walls. His drawings had never been kept, neat and safe, in a protective, waterproof folder. No one had even realised he'd existed.

 _But the skeletons_ , a little voice protested, _The thing in the water- if they had seen you, if they had known you were there…_

 _He loved you. He had to have loved you._

Then why did he forget him?

Zane was looking at him. Echo wished he wouldn't. His tongue had swollen in his mouth (which was impossible) and wouldn't move. Wouldn't form any words. His brother almost appeared pained now. Still looking at him. Still waiting for an answer. For an action. For him to do anything.

Finally, Echo did the only thing he could think of. He closed the tiny gap of distance between them and buried his face into his brother's shoulder, wrapping his arms around him and clinging on. Zane stiffened in his surprise, but he was quick to return the hug, to bring him close and hold him.

It didn't matter, Echo decided. It didn't matter, even if it hurt, even if he still loved his father and knew he would never love him back, because now he had Zane. He had his brother. And that was enough for him.

They left the treehouse a little while later, although not before Zane let him pick out a few things from the toy box to take home. They put them in the car, Echo deciding to carry Gizmo, and retrieved their lanterns, before they found a decently big, snowy clearing.

"Stand back," said Zane, sitting his lantern down, "I don't want to accidentally hit you."

Echo did as he was told, taking a few steps away. Gizmo beeped in his arms.

For a moment, Zane stood still. Then he brought his hands up, frost creeping along his gloves and up his sleeves, and then there was ice. It blasted from his palms in jagged spikes, latching onto the snow. Then it began to build upon each other, Zane steadily raising his hands with it. It shifted and turned and within moments it wasn't just a giant lump of smooth ice, but a face. A body. Hands. And then the face of Echo's father was smiling at him, a smile he must have only seen once or twice in his entire time with him. A genuine one.

Zane stepped back, a proud smile on his face. He took his lantern and fit it into the statue's hand, before gesturing for Echo to come over. The younger bot did so, still staring up at his father's face; Zane took his lantern and fit it into the other hand.

They both stepped back, taking it in. The ice gleamed in the red glow of their lanterns. Everything about it was precise, perfect and beautiful; something only the master of ice could create. In Echo's arms, Gizmo gave an appreciative beep.

Dr Julian. Their father.

Slowly, Echo's eyes trailed away from his smiling face and down to the two lanterns in his hands. Something heavy settled in his gears. He wondered if his lantern truly belonged there. If _he_ belonged here. If he should even be here, remembering a man that had never remembered him, standing next to his son. His real son. His original.

 _Shut up,_ he clenched his jaw, _Shut up. It doesn't matter. You still loved him. Isn't that enough?_

Was it?

Zane sighed and Echo turned to look at him. His brother's blue gaze was still on the statue, but his smile had slipped into a frown. He looked… sad.

"I always thought he was a good man," he said, quietly, "A good person with a good heart who… who loved what he did and those around him. He told me once that he'd done terrible things, but… I never blamed him for anything. Nothing the skeletons did was his fault. None of the things they forced him to build that they used to hurt people was his fault. He was _good._ And yet... "

He trailed off. Echo remained silent, listening to the quiet ticking, almost inaudible ticking of his clockwork heart. Finally, Zane tore his eyes from the statue and looked at him.

"What do you think he would say?" he asked, still quiet, almost… almost desperate, "If he were to see you again- if he were to find out you were okay, that we found you, that we're brothers… what would you say?"

A silence. Echo could see it now; he was surprised he hadn't noticed it before. Surprised his brother had hidden it so well until now- from him, at least. The desperation. The silent plea for him to find out that his father _wasn't_ a bad person, that this had all been a mistake, that he hadn't _really_ meant to never tell anyone about Echo. That Echo wasn't even supposed to be an exact copy of Zane to begin with, that he only looked like him and had his name because that was the only way he could build him. The hope that, if Dr Julian _had_ somehow been able to see them again, he would be ecstatic at the sight of Echo. Relieved. Crying tears of joy.

That, in some other world, they might have all been a real family.

Something inside Echo ached. Because no matter how much they both may have wanted it, he couldn't give it to him. He couldn't tell him that Julian would have been happy to see him. Couldn't promise that the man had loved him down to the bottom of his heart. Couldn't reassure him that he had ever _really_ cared about him.

Because Echo didn't think he believed that anymore.

"I don't know," he admitted, finally.

Zane's shoulders slumped. Echo wondered if he should have simply lied. Maybe it would've been better.

"Yeah," the titanium droid murmured, "I don't know either."

He pulled Echo into another hug. The younger bot buried his face into his brother's shoulder, closing his eyes and allowing himself to relax. The lighthouse had been safe, mostly. It had been secure. Especially once the skeletons left and never returned. But Zane… Zane was safe too. He was there for him. He was strong and brave and everything Echo wasn't.

Maybe, he thought, just maybe, Zane could be his lighthouse. Maybe.

Neither brother noticed their lanterns flicker green.

* * *

 **Day of the Departed is taking longer than I expected XXD Then again, I hadn't really considered how many chapters it would take. I think we're going to have about two or three more chapters of this, then we'll branch off a bit like we did in _Empty Echoes._**

 **Well, hope you guys liked this! I'll see you Wednesday after next.**


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